Mercy and Rivalry
by Alazian
Summary: Zydan and Gareth were on opposite sides on the Noxian invasion of Ionia, but when one is spared, they join forces to combat the challenges ahead. Whether it be learning to control their abilities, facing evils from their past or settling old grudges, they will be tested in ways they may not be prepared for. Collab between me and a friend and based on OCs we posted earlier the site.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello viewers, this is a collab story between me and my friend "Blargmaster13" that we decided to write, based on our ideas for champs we made and posted on the site. We advise you to read these if you get confused about some of the vague references to their back stories. These champs are "Zydan- The Ringmaster" and "Gareth- The Avatar of Mercy". I will be writing in Zydan's point of view and the brief sections of Irelia's point of view, while Blargmaster will be writing in Gareth's point of view. We hope you enjoy the story and seeing as we are relatively new to writing we would appreciate any feedback/criticism you have to offer us. And now that I'm done rambling on, enjoy the story and we hope you like it._

It was late in the Noxian invasion of Ionia and when I last heard of the Noxian forces' progress they were making their way to the Placidium and claimed to have enough men and resources to take it by force with ease. I was making my way to join the Noxian army and assist in any fighting that may still be required. This was my punishment for being weak in the minds of family, all because I thought it was wrong to kill someone who had their backs turned to me. But I guess that's the way of Noxian life, if you can't kill a target no matter what the reason may be and you were considered weak and must be punished. This was my punishment, to join late in the invasion of Ionia and participate in what I saw to be needless slaughter of innocent people. These people weren't fighters, they were just normal people trying to live a happy and peaceful life but no, we just had to go and kill them all because they had minerals and other stuff we could mine. Ingredients that would just go towards waging war with some other country I couldn't care less about fighting.

It's not that I despise fighting or killing, in fact I would do either without hesitation if there was purpose or reason for it, but killing and slaughter are two different things and I despise cutting down those who cannot fight back. Now, at the age of 17, I made my way to a village that had already been passed through and left lifeless, expecting to see rotting corpses and burned down huts. What I witnessed left me surprised as I saw Noxians retreating for their lives as Ionian troops, led by a young girl with blue hair and a flying blade that caught my eye as it flew towards the Noxian troops, charging towards them cutting down anyone not fast to escape their assault. Unfortunately for the Noxians, the Ionians were trained to fight with speed and precision while Noxians focused much on pure strength in their training, allowing the Ionians to catch up with relative ease.

This was nothing more than unnecessary slaughter, only with the tides turned. It was obvious that from the last I heard of the invasion's progress the tides had somehow been turned and the Noxians had been defeated, unable to continue the relentless assault they had begun at the start of it all. I knew it was basically suicide but I couldn't just sit back while simple soldiers were killed just for following the orders of corrupt leader so with a certain feeling of finality and determination I readied my chakrams that I had lived and survived with for most of my short life and leaped in between the Noxians and Ionians, stopping the Ionian forces for a second before they began to descend upon me. They were kept back however as whenever one of them got within range of my chakrams they were quickly cut down.

I fought without hesitation. I had a purpose for fighting and these were trained fighters willing to fight and attack me without a second of thought so I felt no regret in ending their lives. They had trusted their life into their own hands and fought with honour and I in turn returned the favour by fighting with the same honour. Whenever they fell to my blades they were ended with a swift precise strike that left them alive for no more than a second. The longer I managed to keep them at bay, the more time my comrades had to escape to a safe distance. Some Ionians inevitably managed to make it past me but they weren't backed up by the same amount of fighters as before and were much more cautious in their pursuit. After several minutes of continuous fighting I found myself completely surrounded by Ionian troops and I realised that the troops that passed me earlier must have realised that pursuit was now pointless and had circled back to corner me. I saw there was no longer any reason to take any more lives and hooked my chakrams back to my belt and dropped to my knees and looked down to the ground, awaiting for someone to end my life quickly. I was caught off guard however as I heard a female direct her voice towards him.

"Stand up and face me." I looked up to see the girl from before facing me as her blade flew around her seemingly ready to pierce right through me at the slightest action. I was slightly shocked to see that the girl couldn't be any older than me. I slowly stood up facing the young girl. "Unhook your weapons and fight me Noxian." As I did as she requested and armed myself with my chakrams, I had a question I wanted to ask her.

"Why not just kill me when I was on the ground?" She seemed offended as I asked her what seemed to me to be a perfectly reasonable question.

"You fought with honour and I will not execute someone when they have just given up. I will see to it that you die with honour, weapons in hand." I respected her honour and I decided that if I was going to meet my end I would make sure I gave her one hell of a fight.

"Then if I am to die with honour than you should know that my name is Zydan Isanty" The girl nodded her acknowledgment before telling me her own name.

"Before you die, you may call Irelia Lito. Now that introductions have been made it is time for you to fight your last fight." As soon as she finished speaking, she lunged at me, with her blade right in front of her, at an almost inhuman speed forcing me to dive out of the way to my left. She quickly followed up her attack by making the blade come down on me, forcing me to use both my chakrams to block the blade. It left me open however to her actual attack as she delivered a powerful roundhouse kick directly at my chest, sending me sprawling across the ground. I instinctively rolled out of the way and was glad I did as I heard the sound of her blade hitting the ground hard. She was clearly experienced in battle and she had the advantage of having that damn blade flying around trying to shred me from limb to limb while she engaged me close up.

And so the fight continued, with her attacking me with her blade forcing me to defend, while she hit me when I was preoccupied with her blade. She was slowly fatiguing me and waiting for me to make a single mistake against her blade so she could finish me with a simple strike. Whenever I tried to take the offensive side however she would simply dodge my attacks before sending her blade my way forcing me to narrowly escape a fatal blow. Her plan was simple but it was working wonders and I was slowly beginning to take minor wounds that were only exhausting me faster. The battle began to reach its end as she took me by surprise by charging right at me without her blade to distract me and by the time I went to react by striking at her, she had grabbed my arms and began to sweep her foot across the ground in an attempt to trip me. In response I jumped off the ground avoiding her sweep but realising my mistake too late, as while in mid-air I saw her blade fly straight at me. Just before the blade stabbed me, Irelia released her hold on my arms sending me flying straight into the ground, several metres away from her as the blade collided into me, going right through my ribcage.

You could say I was fortunate that her blade had narrowly missed my heart and lungs but I knew I would die of blood loss regardless. The blade exited from my body and I could see Irelia just look at me from a distance, knowing I was finished. I knew I was dead so I forced myself up to my feet and tried one more last ditch effort before I met my end. I sent my chakrams hurling at Irelia. Irelia, caught off guard, managed to evade one of my chakrams but the other managed to slice through her armour, cutting the side of her stomach. It wasn't lethal but I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I would at least leave a reminder of our battle on the girl who had fought and defeated me in a fair battle to the death.

Yet, the battle was still not over as to my surprise the chakrams began to fly back to me and placed themselves into my hands. I now had a way to combat Irelia's blade and I used it to my advantage sending my chakrams flying towards her with reckless abandon, forcing her to either dodge or block with her blade. I managed to wound her again but this time in the gap in her shoulder pads, just under her shoulder. This caused a small worm of hope to begin to form inside me as I may just be able to defeat my opponent before I died. This hope was erased immediately as all of a sudden I just collapsed and fell to the floor. Damn. I had lost too much blood from before. I noticed my chakrams fall to the ground beside me and I frantically reached to grab them. If I was going to die then I would at least die with my weapons in hands. I saw Irelia begin to approach and I assumed she must be coming to finish me off in case I tried to surprise her like I had just done. But it was pointless, I wasn't going to live and as I had that thought, everything turned black and I lost all consciousness.

* * *

I was engaged in combat with this Noxian who called himself Zydan and i was awaiting his death as he tried to pick himself from the ground. It was futile and he knew it just as much as i did. Next thing I knew he was standing on the ground and, in a last ditch effort, threw his strange looking weapons. As surprised as I was, I narrowly avoided getting cut in half, but i was still left injured as one of his weapons managed to cut through my armour leaving a wound across the side of my stomach, that I knew would leave a scar that would probably last for the rest of my life. I could probably get Soraka to heal it after the battle but there was no way I was going to dishonour the last show of defiance this Noxian showed me. The fight may have been one sided from the very start but he had never stopped fighting no matter how inevitable the outcome seemed to be.

I was caught off guard when I saw something that only I should be capable of. His weapons were returning to him and placed themselves into his hands as if they had never left his side. I saw him look at his weapons with shock and I realised that this was not a normal occurrence, but I had other things to worry about as he soon took this new change of events and put it to his advantage, throwing his weapons as if possessed by a madman. He was forcing me on the defensive as I dodged and blocked his weapons with barely any time to react. He managed to cut through my defenses again as i was sliced just below the shoulder. I began to become concerned that if I couldn't get back on the offensive, he may just be able to defeat me.

As soon as my concerns popped into my head however, the relentless attacks that were berating my defences just all of a sudden stopped. I looked to see Zydan collapse to the ground, seemingly unconscious. I usually would have just let him lie there and die in peace but after that first surprise he gave me by throwing his blades, i wasn't going to give him another chance to turn the tides. So i approached his lying body and I readied my blade to stab right through his heart, guaranteeing his instant death. "May you find peace in the world beyond this realm" I said as I sent my blade flying straight towards him, but before my blade could finish the Noxian off, Gareth appeared out of nowhere and I felt my blade stop in mid-air as he blocked the blade with magic

_**"This man will not perish this day!"**_

* * *

As the Ionians charged into the Noxian army, I was in the middle of a detachment of soldiers killing my former kinsmen with blade and spell, as I cut through their lines I could hear steel clashing towards the front of the Noxian lines. 'It seems that her little stunt worked' I thought as I swung my blade removing the head of another soldier. It seems that my 'distraction' and the remaining Ionian forces charging seemed to have severely damaged the Noxians' Morale and they were starting to fall back. When I went to chase after their retreating forces I felt my body freeze up, **'No, you will let them go, they have earned our Mercy by running'**, as I regained control of my body I sighed and moved to provide support.

As the Ionian soldiers continued to push the Noxians back I quickly noticed Irelia engaged in a duel with someone, even from the distance I was standing at it was obvious that it was a fairly one sided fight as Irelia impaled her target with her blade and dropped her opponent onto the floor, as I saw Irelia raise her blade to end her poor opponents life I felt a surge of energy as her opponent threw his bizarre weapons, although Irelia managed to dodge one, the other one managed to slice through her armor and wound her. As she was starting to be pushed back by her opponent I quickened my pace towards Irelia.

When I started to believe that Irelia would be defeated her opponent suddenly went limp and fell onto his stomach, at this stage I was quite close to their duel and saw the face of her opponent, someone I recognised from my years living in Noxus, it was Zydan. I noticed Irelia was moving towards Zydan to finish him, as I saw Irelia raise her blade I felt my control over my body start to lessen and soon enough Mercy had taken over. As Irelia sent her blade towards the prone form of Zydan, a large amount of energy left my body as I teleported in front of Irelia's blade. As Irelia's blade impacted with the the barrier Mercy had erected I started to regain control of my body.

_**"No"**_ Mercy said in a very monotonous voice to Irelia before surrendering control back to me.

Irelia stood there with a blank expression on her face before saying "Why did you just protect this Noxian Gareth?" Irelia looked at me as if she were beginning to become suspicious of me.

"Because he does not deserve death, he was giving his life to save his kinsmen, I think that earns him his life"

"And what if we spare him and he decides to try and kill us afterwards? If we spare him, we may later regret it."

"Ok, two points, One I am pretty sure that either you or me could kill him if he did turn and Secondly its not his style"

Irelia's blades began to point directly at me, reflecting what could only be a deep sense of suspicion. "And how could you possibly know what his 'style' is?"

I sighed and replied to her question "Zydan Isanty, Part of a Noble Noxian family who specialised in the art of Assassination, his father was a family friend and our families would get together for celebrations, I know it isn't his 'style' because he was always against the idea of stabbing people in the back"

"If his father was a Noxian noble then who exactly were your family before you came to Ionia?"

"Before I came to Ionia I spent a large portion of my life living in Noxus, and eventually I was adopted into the Du Couteau family" I said, feeling guilty at the sense of relief that had washed over me.

However that relief was short lived as she sent her blade hovering right next to my neck, ready to slice it open if I tried to make a move. "If I hadn't witnessed your assistance in this war then I would have killed you immediately, but I will let you live. Are you positive that if we let this Zydan person you seem to know much about," Irelia said, briefly turning her head towards Zydan "that he will not threaten us when he awakens, because if he brings harm to any of the Ionian people then I will hold you just as responsible for his crimes."

"Yes I'm sure that he won't be a threat to any Ionian citizens when he wakes up, if he does I'll kill him myself, and I honestly don't think you could kill me even with your new-found flying sword trick" I replied.

"Fine, then I will grant him the chance of freedom, but remember what you have just sworn Gareth, and I expect you to keep your word if you are wrong about him. Now if I were you I would get him to Soraka before he dies of blood loss or else our agreement really won't matter" Irelia said as she walked away from me and the dying figure of Zydan.

As Irelia made her exit I moved over to the unconscious body of Zydan, lifting him up as I started to channel the energy required to teleport to a nearby medical tent where Soraka would no doubt be. After I materialized inside the tent, Soraka briefly looked up from her current patient, sighed and pointed towards an empty bunk. Once I had placed Zydan on the bunk, I left the tent so Soraka could focus on healing him while I waited patiently to hear whether he would survive or not.


	2. Chapter 2

I opened my eyes to see I was inside a tent of some sort. I sat up, surprised that I was even alive, let alone in a tent and with all my injuries healed. I saw that I had a massive scar across my chest where that damn blade of Irelia's stabbed me. As I looked around to see my surroundings I noticed other soldiers lying on medical beds, some I saw were already dead. However some still had pieces of armour still on and I immediately recognised them as Ionian armour.

"Ah shit" I said aloud as I realised that I had been taken prisoner, but questions ran through my head. 'What sort of information could they possibly want from me? Why not just kill me? Why were all my injuries completely healed?'

My thoughts were interrupted however when I saw a lady with blue skin, hooves and a horn protruding from her forehead. She approached me and to my shock, gave me a warm smile. Here I was, captive, and this strange woman, if I could even call her that, was smiling at me. "It's good to see you awake after all this time" she said calmly as she walked up to me and inspected my wounds.

"How and why am I still alive? I should be dead." I said as the woman finished looking over my injuries.

"And you would have been had Gareth not arrived when he did, with you unconscious" Gareth, that was a name that sparked my memory, but I hadn't seen him in years, and it couldn't possibly have been the same person. "It seems like you know the name, he had mentioned that you were an old acquaintance from his time before he came to Ionia." And yet what she had just said seemed to point it to being the person who had disappeared from Noxus years ago.

"But I never saw Gareth, I was busy dueling Irelia when I fell unconscious" I asked, curiosity taking priority above all else.

"From what I heard, Gareth saved you just before Irelia finished you off. He got you here as fast as he could to try and save you. You lost so much blood that you almost didn't make it, but I managed to heal your wounds in time and here you have been; lying unconscious for a week." 'What? I was unconscious for a whole week? That must have been one hell of a battle.' I thought to myself with pride.

"Where are my armour and weapons" I asked as I realised that my gear was no where in sight.

"Your equipment was stored for safe keeping and will be returned to you when you have fully recovered, which should only be a matter of a full nights rest. But regardless, if you so pleased you would be able to manage small walks in your current state. By the way, my name is Soraka and I heard from Gareth that your name was along the lanes of, Zydon was it?"

"Zydan, actually but thank you for healing me, whatever purpose it may serve." Soraka looked at me questioning me about my words, so I elaborated. "I am a prisoner, am I not? I am a Noxian soldier who invaded your lands and now I am to be questioned. That is usually the way such procedures work, or am I wrong in your assumption?"

"I know not what purpose you would serve to us and that is something you should find and speak to Irelia about, she made it clear that she wanted to talk to you as soon as you were able." In that instant I decided that if I was to face whatever punishment that would come my way, I would rather face it sooner rather than later.

And just as I was about to tell Soraka, I noticed a floating blade fly into the tent and as I recognised it as 'her' blade, she walked into the medical tent and looked directly at me. I could see a mixture of surprise, contempt and, to my surprise, respect in her eyes. "Soraka when did the Noxian regain consciousness?" she asked the healer with a calm and steady voice.

I decided to answer for Soraka. "I have only been awake for a few minutes if that is what you mean." came my response in a smug tone. I soon found that bloody blade pointing dangerously close to my neck.

"If I was asking you then I would have directed the question to you, not to Soraka. Seeing as you look fit enough to walk though, I would like you to follow me so we can speak" She intended that to be the final word but I wasn't quite finished yet.

"Why did you spare me Irelia. Why have you not just killed me or taken me to a jail of some kind?"

Irelia simply sighed before replying with, "If it was up to me then you would have died then and there but fortunately for you, I wasn't given much choice in the matter. Now if you will follow me then I will tell you more of what has transpired."

"Do I atleast get my weapons and armour back?" I wasn't going anywhere with her, without my chakrams by my side. I still didn't understand how I was able to make them fly back towards me but I wanted them where I could easily reach them at all times for now on.

"Soraka, get Zydan's weaponry for him" she ordered the healer. When Soraka left the proximity however, Irelia stared daggers at me before threatening me, "If you even try to use your weapons against me or anyone else in Ionia then I will cut you where you stand without a second's thought and this time I will make sure that you die" I nodded my understanding, I wasn't particularly threatened by her words, but I knew they were sincere and I respected them for it. As Soraka appeared again with my weapons and armour in check, I suited myself up and placed my chakrams on my belt and followed Irelia as we made our way out of the medical tent and into a smaller tent where only one other person was waiting patiently. I was in shock as I recognised that face from so long ago.

"Gareth?"

* * *

"Where do you think your going?" I froze up when I heard the all-familiar voice coming from some nearby shadows

"The General has given me a task and I'm going to complete it" I lied

"You never were any good at lying Gareth, so why don't you tell us what you're really doing?" I heard the voice of Katerina a few seconds before the cold steel of a dagger pressing up against my throat.

"I'm heading to Ionia" I replied

"Gareth?"

On hearing my name I was snapped out of my flashback, I looked in the general direction of where the voice had come from and was greeted by the sight of Irelia and Zydan entering the tent, at Zydan's confused expression I couldn't help but smile.

"Its been a long time Zydan" I said extending my arm towards Zydan who in turn shook my hand.

"It's been so long Gareth I never expected to see you again, let alone in Ionia."

"I could say the exact same thing for you Zydan as I never thought you would be one to go to war"

"I wouldn't have if I was given a choice, but apparently not being a good assassin makes you weak and in need of punishment." Zydan said with a look of relief before continuing. "And it seems that the word 'punishment' actually translates to 'go to a pointless war that I couldn't care less about.'."

"I'm sorry Gareth but I didn't bring Zydan here just so you can reminisce over events from the past. We need to discuss our agreement with Zydan."

"Oh come Irelia, do you really have to end our fun of testing your patience?" I sighed as Zydan began to talk sarcastically. 'It seems some people will never change after a near death experience.'

'Mercy?' I 'thought' to myself

_**'Yes?'**_ Came the reply

'Are you sure that saving Zydan will be worth the headache?'

_**'Showing mercy is worth any cost.'**_

"Zydan, I am letting you live and you the first thing you do is try to antagonise me. Is that really such a smart decision?" Irelia replied calmly but I could see she was wondering whether or not she should have just finished him off regardless of my intervention.

And yet Zydan still couldn't resist trying to get the last word. "On the contrary, if what I've heard is true, it was Gareth who let me live and you who wanted to rid the world of a perfectly innocent being."

_**'Perhaps I was mistaken'**_

"Innocent? Then why were you busy killing Ionian soldiers who had done nothing wrong except for standing up against power hungry tyrants."

At Irelia's question Zydan became serious. "To prevent them from slaying soldiers who were simply following orders in service for their country. Tell me, what is so heinous about following orders? most of those men weren't even given a choice as to whether they wanted to join the campaign or not."

"Although I enjoy watching an old married couple bicker as much as the next guy I believe we were going to have a proper discussion our agreement" I said smugly, I grinned as I was rewarded with glares from both of the warriors.

Irelia was the first to concede and began to get back to the matter at hand. "Zydan, Gareth managed to convince me that you earned your freedom through your actions. I will let you wait until you have fully recovered but after that you will have no more than a day before I want you out of Ionia. Be warned however that if we meet again on opposing sides I will not hesitate to kill you."

I expected Zydan to simply comply with Irelia's orders but I was just as shocked as Irelia by Zydan's next words. "And what if I wish to stay here and seek a new life outside of Noxian command?" At first I thought he was just trying to get on Irelia's nerves again but I realised that there had been nothing sarcastic or smug in his request and that it was a serious question.

"That would be a great idea, if you could live under constant suspicion and have the majority of the population despise you, but other than that yeah good plan" I said before Irelia could make her views on the matter known

And of course just to make matters worse Zydan returned back to his usual sarcasm. "I don't see the problem, I think that would make me feel right at home."

"Why would you even want to stay here when you could go anywhere else? There must be a reason you would pick here instead of Piltover or Demacia." Irelia questioned him as she looked at him with a glare that made me think that Zydan would burst into flames.

"Irelia, Demacia would probably be the worst place for me to go to because of my birthplace and I don't think Piltover would suit me very much." Zydan said

"Yeah, a Noxian going to Demacia is one of the worst things you can do and I don't think Zydan would fit in very well with Piltover" I replied to Irelia's suggestions.

Zydan now went back to being serious. "Look, aside from getting on your nerves every chance I get, I want to be free from everything that even closely resembles Noxus. Ionia is about as opposite to Noxus as water is to fire, and I feel like I'm pretty sure I can be more use here than anywhere else."

Irelia seemed to relent slightly and but she still wasn't certain whether or not Zydan really would be able to help her country. "Gareth, if I let Zydan stay here in Ionia then I will need you to promise to keep a watch over him and if he does anything out of line, I will expect to deal with it immediately, because you will be held accountable for any harm dealt on his part."

"Irelia, I give you my word I will end him if steps out of line, I will also feed him and take him on walks" I said mock saluting

"Don't worry about food, I will just rip your arm off and nibble on that for a week or two." Zydan replied jokingly before continuing "Also do Ionians usually give death threats to people as if they aren't even right next to them?"

"Don't worry most Ionians are too polite to give death threats even if you're not there, Irelia is just special like that" I said basically feeling her glare burning into the back of my head.

"Yep just the perfect example of Ionian diplomacy, don't you agree Irelia?" Zydan asked with a serious face, but I could see he wanted to burst out laughing.

Irelia sighed before saying "You can stay in Ionia for now Zydan, but remember, one wrong action against my people and you will be cut down. Now if you'll excuse me, I have duties to attend to while the two of you think of stupid ways to make fun of me."

Zydan raised an eyebrow before she left. "Irelia using manners to the person she tried to kill not too long ago? Looks like we're rubbing off on her Gareth" As she practically stormed out of the tent, me and Zydan couldn't stop ourselves from bursting out in laughter.

"Ok now that we've finished pissing Irelia off lets get you back to medical tent" I said pushing him out of the tent flaps.

"Oh come on Gareth, why can't we just race each other. Physical activity is always the best way to recover."

"Fine, I'll give you a ten second head start" I said sighing and pointing to the end of the military camp where we would race to.

Zydan smirked and said "You'll regret that head start you gave me." before he ran off as if he was in perfect condition, reaching speeds that I had only seen Irelia herself reach. I counted to ten and I grinned ready to teleport to the end of the camp but just as i was about to activate my spell, I found myself stuck to the ground. I looked down to see a chakram snaring me with magic. Since when could Zydan use magic? I finally got out of the snare but I looked to see the chakram returning to Zydan's hand as he stood at the end of a camp. I teleported to him as he looked at me with a smile that couldn't possibly get any wider.

"Well played, now wipe that stupid grin off your face" In response to being outplayed. "Now that you've had your fun, you're going back to the medical tent before Soraka comes looking for you"

In response Zydan cocked his eyebrow and said "What you're scared of a Healer?"

"Believe me, in all the years I've been the two people who scare me the most are not warriors like Irelia or Master Yi but Karma and Soraka" I said flinching at some fairly unpleasant memories involving the two.

"Well then, we should probably get you to see the healer so you can recover from your injuries" Zydan replied with a smirk

"Very Funny, but I am serious either you go back to that tent of your own accord or I drag you in there" I replied to his smartass comment

"Fine, I'll have my fun with Irelia later" Zydan said mocking disappointment as he headed towards the medical tent.

"At the rate you're going, she'll probably end up killing you before we even start repairing Ionia" I said while trying to determine exactly how long he had left.

_**'I'm going to say about 8 months'**_ said Mercy giving his input

'Alright you're on' I 'thought' in reply to his comment

"Just makes it all the more fun to antagonise her" Zydan said as I started to think he was on a suicide mission

"Do you ever take anything seriously?"

"When battling for my life? yes. Everything else? not really."

_**'Seven Months'**_

'How about Six just to be safe?'

_**'Yes, just to be safe'**_

I was glad that Zydan didn't know about Mercy yet or he would probably make up some terrible joke about 'listening to my inner-self'. But thankfully I was safe for now as he ran towards the tent getting what little physical activity he could before having to rest. It was good to see Zydan after my years away from Noxus.


	3. Chapter 3

I had been waiting in a tree on the outskirts of the Ionian camp for little over an hour waiting for my target to return, 'This is not worth my time' I thought to myself fiddling with one of my knives.

I was about get up and leave when I noticed someone wearing armour that matched the description of my target _'About time you showed up'_ I thought smirking and reaching for one of the daggers strapped to my legs, after a few seconds of lining up the throw I sent it flying towards his neck.

I was shocked when the dagger bounced off something a few inches away from him, and I was shocked further when he turned around, glowing, and I managed to Shunpo out of the tree a few seconds before a ball of energy hit the tree, smashing it into many splinters.

He then turned towards where I had jumped to and launched another ball of energy doing with the same effect, after two more trees had met the same fate I started to go on the offensive jumping towards him and throwing three daggers towards him, one of which imbedded itself in his armour. After that I jumped behind him and went to plunge my dagger into his back, but the blade barely pierced the amour. Soon after my failed attempt I felt a tight grip around my throat and my feet leaving the ground.

After a few seconds of struggling, I felt the grip on my throat lessen slightly and I heard my target "Katarina, is that really you?". I started to panic slightly because my target knew my name.

"How the hell do you know my name?" I said trying to calm myself. In reply my target chuckled for a few seconds and then removed his helmet I was shocked as I saw the face under the helmet, "Gareth?"

"I'm touched that you remember me" he said jokingly, lowering me to the ground and letting go of my throat.

"So this is why you left" I said gesturing towards the Ionian camp. "To slaughter your own kinsmen" I felt my anger start to rise at what Gareth was doing.

"Katarina you know me, do you really think I came to Ionia just to kill Noxians?" he said in reply to my outburst

"I… I don't know" I said "I mean the Gareth I knew during my teenage years, never would have raised a blade against another Noxian but all the reports say that you've helped slaughter hundreds" I said feeling slightly confused about the situation I was in.

Gareth looked like he was about to respond when he grabbed me by the shoulders and whispered into my ears "Someone is coming, so please for old times sake get out of here, please".

I was about to object but I decided against it, so I started to head back to camp when I realised that I couldn't go back to camp empty handed so I climbed up into a nearby tree and started to watch as a man walked towards Gareth, the thing that did pique my interest was the emblem he bore on his chest armour, It was that of a blue snake poised and ready to strike on an orange background resembling dripping blood. I recognised it as the family crest of the Isanty family, a noble Noxian family that was almost as renowned as my own family, the Du Coteau, in the art of assassination. 'Why would a member of a noble Noxian family be in an Ionian camp?' I wondered. I decided to stay and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Zydan its great to see you" I heard him greet his visitor. 'Zydan, so that was his name.'

"Hey Gareth, is something wrong? By the look on your face you must have seen a ghost." this young man by the name of Zydan said with a chuckle.

"No, Nothing's wrong just thinking about some things" I heard Gareth reply. _'After all these years and you are are still a terrible liar Gareth'_

Apparently Zydan seemed to agree with me. "Has anyone ever told you how bad you are at lying?" he said smirking at the mage, before continuing to speak. "So who's the ghost?"

"I've been told countless times that I'm a terrible liar, and it wasn't a ghost just someone I didn't think I would see for quite some time" Iheard him tell Zydan.

"You're still avoiding the question of who it was Gareth, Noxus may train people to be cruel and merciless but they do train us to have some brains in our head as well." Zydan said poking the side of his own head.

"That's the reason I'm not telling you Zydan, because I like having my brain inside my head" came Gareth's reply

Zydan seemed to comply to with what Gareth said. "Ah well, anyway I came to tell you that I have been assigned to join a company of Ionian soldiers and help ambush a large group of Noxian soldiers that weren't at the battle for the Placidium."

The Ionians were planning an ambush? Noxian command would need to know of this. There was only one squad that wasn't at the battle that could be large enough to warrant a large ambush, Riven's squad. This was going to be a hard fought battle, but the Ionians would have more troops and would eventually win.

"Well, I wish you luck Zydan cause if you screw up Irelia will… not do anything at all, because you'll be dead, ahhh she might dance on your grave"

"Now you see my amazing logic of joining. I'll see you again soon Gareth." Zydan said with a smile

As Zydan walked away from Gareth I quickly made my way towards the Noxian camp, they had to be informed of the ambush and of this Zydan person.

* * *

Me and my squad were trekking through the forests of Ionia hoping to avoid detection for when we came across the next inhabited village. The last reports we had received were that the main Noxian army were making their way to the Placidium where they would take control and win the war. When I joined the war, I had thought that I would fight in glorious battles, facing foes with strength and honour, but instead I was assigned to killing civilians. Innocent people, from the newborn to the elderly, were slaughtered without a chance to retreat or surrender. What glory was there to be had in killing people who couldn't fight back. However my thoughts were pushed aside as my squad walked into an open clearing. We had been marching at a fast pace for most of the day and I decided it would be as good of a place as any to set up camp. "Everyone set up camp." I told everyone before pointing to a few men. You three, we will take first watch for the night, position yourselves around the camp." The men nodded their acknowledgement and set out to keep watch.

Half an hour later, the camp was set up and and most of the soldiers were starting to fall asleep, and that was of course the perfect time to get ambushed. I saw the three other guards fall down dead, each with an arrow sticking out of their foreheads. Instinct took over as I rolled from where I was just standing, and dodged the arrow that would have been the end of me as well. "Ambush!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as a massive group of Ionian soldiers ran out into the clearing, surrounding us and blocking any chance of escape. As they charged us, my squad came rushing out of their tents, armed and ready to fight. 'At least I trained them well' I thought as I saw that victory would be almost impossible as their forces greatly outnumbered us. I turned my attention to a nearby mage and yelled at him. "Send a signal for reinforcements!" The soldier responded quickly and within a few seconds a bright light was shot in the sky. Now all we had to do was survive for as long as we can while we waited for backup to arrive. If reinforcements didn't arrive in time however, then at least I would be able to die battling soldiers to the death, at least I would die fighting a warrior's death.

My squad and I began to charge towards the Ionian ambush party and blades were met with blades as the two sides clashed against each other. I charged into the thick of battle, killing any Ionian soldiers that got in range of my massive runeforged blade. These soldiers were well trained, but they crumbled under my assault as I cut my way through their attack. However, as I turned back to kill a soldier who tried to stab me from behind, I saw that the rest of my troops were struggling under the Ionian ambush and their defences were slowly being broken. It would only be a matter of time before our forces fell, but still I kept cutting down soldier after soldier until I came across a young man with odd looking weapons. They were a pair of rings of steel with edges jutting out from each side. That didn't matter though as I rushed towards him and swung my blade down upon him, he was going to fall under my assault regardless.

And yet he didn't, I had to admit he was fast as he dodged strike after strike I unleashed upon him. He jumped backwards from one of strikes and threw one of his weapons, which I managed to block with my blade. Good, now that he was short a weapon he shouldn't have been a problem to take care of, but of course he caught me off guard as his weapon returned to his hand and he immediately took advantage of it by charging directly at me, aiming straight for my neck. I managed to duck in time and proceeded to try and sweep his legs out from under him, but instead of letting me trip him, he jumped over my crouched body and landed after doing a flip through the air. I stood up straight and saw him looking at me, instead of following up on his offence. "You're one hell of a fighter Riven." How did he know my name? I saw that his chest armour had an emblem on it and I examined it to see that it was the crest of a noble Noxian family by the name of Isanty.

"You bear the family crest of the Isanty's and yet you fight for the Ionians. Explain yourself."

"Simple, I was dragged into this stupidity of a war and when I was supposed to meet my end at the hands of Irelia, I was spared instead and given a second chance. I could have gone anywhere I wish and yet I chose to stay here and fight back against Noxus."

While his response made sense, it only served to anger me and I charged at him, trying to cut him to pieces while I yelled. "So you willingly turned your back on Noxus, your own home that raised you and made you strong!"

My words seemed to anger the traitor as he dodged after blow, unable to make a counter attack as my sword out-ranged his weapons and I wasn't giving him another chance to throw them from a safe distance. "Raised me? Made me strong? I was nothing special to my family, just a tool to further their own reputation and goals. The only reason I ever even went to Ionia is because I was forced here as a punishment for my own 'weakness'. Do you want to know what apparently makes you weak in Noxus? Apparently refusing to kill someone behind their back is considered weakness! Noxus is corrupt Riven, it's filled with politicians and snakes who would betray you for the tiniest portion of power."

"No! Noxus shows it strength through battle, where the strong prevail and are respected for their strength and glory in battle!"

"Glory? Then tell me, how glorious did you feel slaughtering those villagers who couldn't even fight for themselves?" The traitor had struck a nerve with that question and he knew it, but I would not be swayed by his treacherous talk. "The leaders of Noxus don't care about you Riven, you are just a puppet to them and you allow them to pull your strings like an obedient little puppy. You will serve them willingly and when you're no longer of use they will either stab you in the back or hire someone else to do it for them."

"No! You try to deceive me with lies, but I'm no traitor and Noxus has no need for politics! We fight for what we deserve and prove our strength through battle. Those that are strong rule over Noxus and those that serve the strong do so out of respect."

"No, they serve out of fear of being punished and humiliated. Ask yourself this Riven, have the current leaders of Noxus actually shown any strength? If so then why is Jericho Swain in such a high position of power? He has done nothing but lie, scheme and use foul magic and yet he is one of our most prominent leaders."

His words were beginning to make me question some of the choices made in the past but still, that was no excuse to betray Noxus and turn on his own home. It was time to finish this traitor as I raised my blade and let all my ki energy flow into my blade. I would put all my power behind this one strike and end him quickly. My blade began to glow a bright green and I swung my blade towards him as he stood a good distance away from me. As my blade completed the swing, my stored ki energy left my blade and flew towards the traitor in a deadly wind slash. I smiled as I knew that it was too fast for him to avoid and he wouldn't be able to block it with his weapons. Yet he stood his ground and he quickly raised his weapons as they started to glow, one glowing with a blood red colour while the other resembled a deep, sea blue colour. He wasted no time in throwing his weapons and instead of being cut in half, the weapons blocked the wind slash. The two abilities we had just used were competing to overpower one another but neither could break through the others assault, and so the two powers colliding against each other erupted, causing a massive gust of wind to send us both flying in opposite directions of one another.

I was sent rolling across the ground but I was stopped as I hit a tree. I picked myself up and I looked around to see that my battle with Zydan had taken us quite a far distance away from the main fighting. I saw that my dismissal from the main fighting had quickened the Ionians' victory and that the remaining Noxian forces were soon to fall. I had wasted all my energy on fighting the traitor and I would not last long when they caught up to me, but I saw that the young man who had betrayed Noxus had not been so lucky, as I saw his body lying unconscious next to a shattered tree. He must have been blasted right into the tree and knocked out by the impact and I started to slowly stagger towards him as I held my blade firmly, readying it to apply the final blow.

Before I could reach him however, I looked up to see something flying through the sky, coming down towards where we had signalled for reinforcements. The object landed and exploded, releasing a misty gas that caused everyone to start clutching their throats and dropping lifeless to the floor. That was our back-up? A chemical bombing? Why would the Noxian Command willingly sacrifice their own troops, even if it was to kill a number of their opposition. I was outside of the range of the gas, thanks to my fight with the traitor. My attention turned towards the traitor and I began to realise that what he had told me, what I had thought was a useless attempt at deceiving me, was turning into the cold, hard truth as I witnessed the poison gas claiming the lives of every soldier except for me and the traitor's. Just moments ago my thoughts were on finishing the traitor but now as I saw the truth behind his words, I couldn't bring myself to leave him. I was not strong enough to carry him on my shoulder in my current state, so I grabbed his arm and began to drag him behind me as I made my way out of the forest, away from the gas.

After an hour without pause, I finally made it out of the forest and near a main road. I dropped the still unconscious body of the young man that was a member of the Isanty family. His family connection explained how he knew me, just about every Noxian knew me by name. He puzzled me, he had everything given to him from birth, from power and influence to wealth and other selfish pleasures, and for some reason he hated his life in Noxus and had turned his back on his home. Why? Just so he wouldn't be used as a mere tool? He had so much going in his favour and yet he hated it all because of one negative in a room full of positives. I would think of him as a fool but he was able to see Noxus for what it had turned into, while everyone else was still stuck inside a glorious illusion. Now that I was free of this illusion I couldn't go back to it, Noxus was no longer how I had imagined it. I grabbed hold of my runeforged blade and began to store as much ki energy as I had been able to recover and unleashed the energy into the blade itself, splitting it in half and leaving it as only a remnant of what it once was. As the blade was destroyed and my ki energy left my body, I was overcome with exhaustion and collapsed on the cold hard ground, and everything faded to black.

* * *

_And that is chapter 3 of Mercy and Rivalry. How did you like our attempts at Katarina and Riven's point of view? How are you enjoying the story so far? Please review and give us any constructive criticism you may have or anything you enjoy about the story._


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I was awoken quite rudely by someone banging on the door of the small cottage I had been living in during my past few years in Ionia. I quickly threw a shirt on and staggered towards the door, I quickly opened the door to see Irelia standing impatiently with her arms crossed over her chest.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit" I said barely stifling a yawn

"Karma and I just wanted to come and ask you a few questions in private"

"Did Karma learn how to become invisible or did you just come early to disturb my beauty sleep"

"I thought I would arrive early and make sure you had some warning so you could make yourself presentable which I suggest you go and do now" she replied to my attempt at sarcasm

Regardless I followed her advice and went into my bedroom to finish dressing myself, I was going through the chest that held all my possessions, as I was digging through the chest trying to find some decent clothing my finger brushed past something cold, scooping it up in my hand I brought it up to see what it was, when I saw what is was I had to force down some rather emotional memories _'A ring?'_ I heard the voice of Mercy say inside my head, I was going to reply to Mercy's question when I started to hear a voice coming from the ring, I slowly slid the ring onto my finger and I was immediately bombarded by emotions. I started to feel energy building up inside me so I quickly forced the ring off my finger, but that did not stop the energy from building.

I stumbled out the door trying to get out of my house, as I continued to make my way towards the entrance of my house, I eventually passed a startled Irelia who stood up and started to move towards me

"Stay away from me!" I yelled attempting to wave her away as I pushed myself off the floor and fell out the front door of my house, barely missing a rather startled Karma who had her arm raised to knock.

By this point I was nearing my capacity and the energy was threatening to violent expunge itself from my body. And soon after this the stored energy was released and I lost consciousness.

* * *

After a day of nonstop walking, Riven and I had just made it back to the Ionian camp where Soraka looked at our injuries. We surprisingly only suffered some nasty bruises in our fight, although my back was still trying to kill me after it had been dragged across the ground by Riven. She told me what had happened when I got knocked out and how she had decided to remove her ties to Noxus. I had suggested for her to join me to the Ionian camp so she could find a way to redeem herself. She had reluctantly decided to accompany me to the camp where we were taken to the infirmary to get healed by Soraka. "Are you sure I will be allowed to fight alongside the Ionians?" Riven asked me as we exited the tent.

"I can't guarantee it but if I was given a second chance then I don't see why you shouldn't." I replied, but Riven didn't seem to be reassured by my response.

"I'm responsible for the deaths of countless innocent civilians and yet you think I will just be forgiven as if what I did never happened?"

"No, they will be suspicious of you for a while but I will do whatever is necessary to allow you a second chance. I just need to argue with Irelia a bit about the issue." As soon as I said those words I saw Irelia and Karma running through the camp, towards the infirmary. Irelia was carrying Gareth over her shoulders, who was wearing nothing but a shirt and underpants. Something seemed to be wrong and I rushed over to Irelia to ask what was going on. "Irelia, what happened to Gareth?"

"We went to ask Gareth a few questions, but as we arrived he lost all control of his power and it left his body quite violently." Karma said as I followed them inside the tent."

"But I thought he had learned to control it, he said that was the entire reason he came to Ionia in the first place."

"I know, I was the person who taught him how to control his powers, but something must have set them loose."

Irelia found Soraka and the healer laid Gareth down on a vacant bed where she began to check on his condition. As soon as Soraka began working on Gareth, Irelia grabbed me by the arm and lead me out of the tent. As soon as we exited the tent Irelia began to question me. "First of all, who is this woman?" Irelia asked, indicating Riven. "And second of all, what happened at the ambush? You are the only soldier I have seen, who was sent to the ambush."

I gestured for Riven to join us as I began to tell Irelia what happened at the battle. "So you're telling me that all those men are dead and that the only reason you survived was because of pure luck?" Irelia tried to sound calm but I noticed the anger that was managing to sneak its way into her voice.

"Yes Irelia, the only reason I survived was because I got lucky."

"And you want me to let this murderer help us in our war against Noxus? Zydan, it was only because of Gareth that your life was spared, yet you want me to trust you in accepting her into our ranks."

"She didn't join the war to slaughter innocents Irelia, she was deceived into joining the war by the leaders of Noxus and now she wants to set things right."

"Fine, but if she brings harm to another Ionian then you will be blamed just as much as her."

"Thank you Irelia" was all I could say as she walked off.

* * *

_I had left the city of Zaun about 3 weeks ago and the city of Piltover was well within view. When the sun started to set I went off to find a clearing where I could set up camp for the night. It took around an hour to find a clearing and set up my tent, as I was going through my supplies I noticed that I only had enough to last me a few more days._

_After a rather plain dinner I was about to climb into my tent and sleep when I heard a rather posh voice from behind me "What are you doing out here so late at night?" I turned towards the voice I saw a fairly young women wearing a rather revealing 'dress' aiming a rather intricate sniper rifle at me._

_"I had been travelling and I decided to sleep through the night rather than walking in the dark and possibly end up being eaten or falling flat on my face" I replied to her question trying my best to restrain from laughing at her really bizarre and rather impractical headgear._

_"Where were you travelling from then?" she said not pointing her rifle away from me_

_"Zaun"_

_"I'm going to have to take you in Sir"_

_Knowing resisting would end with one or both us dead I then raised my hands towards her which lead to her placing handcuffs on my arms and we started our journey towards Piltover._

_It was well past midnight when we finally made it to Piltover and it wasn't soon after that before I was being shoved into a cell waiting to be 'questioned'. Deciding I might as well get some sleep I lay on the bedroll and slowly drifted off to sleep._

As I slowly started to regain consciousness I could hear people talking although I couldn't make out what they were saying I had a vague idea of who they were, I eventually managed to open my eyes and I saw both Karma and Soraka sitting at a nearby table discussing something, Soraka must have heard me getting up as without even turning away from Karma she said "No, Karma and I did not spend hours trying to stabilize you and make sure you didn't explode and take about half of the camp with you so you could just strain yourself and do that exact thing" I knew trying to argue with her would end with me getting scolded I lowered myself back onto the bed. Eventually the two women finished their conversation and walked over to my bed.

"Ok Gareth I want you tell me exactly what happened" said Karma looking at me with a look of concern on her face

After a few seconds of trying to remember what exactly had happened "Irelia had come early to so I could make myself presentable and while I was searching through my things I found a ring, one of the few items I kept from my life in Noxus, and when I put it on I felt my energy start to rise uncontrollably so limped out of my house than proceeded to explode and fall unconscious, I then wake up here and that's about it"

"Was there anything special about the ring?" asked Soraka

"Um….it's enchanted" I said

"Ok and what does this enchantment do exactly" asked Karma clearly annoyed at my attempt to get out of telling her.

"itsathingthatletsmetalktothepersonwearingtheother ring" I quickly exhaled

"Ok one more time, but slower and just accept that you can't avoid this question" said a now very annoyed Soraka

Resigning myself to my fate I took a deep breath before saying "It's one of two rings with the same enchantment and it allows the two wearers to share thoughts with one another, and to my knowledge the other one still belongs to Cassiopeia Du Couteau in Noxus and the reason this caused me 'explode' was because when I put it on I was overwhelmed by all her thoughts and emotions." To their credit they seemed to be taking this information quite well.

* * *

I was quite roughly shoved out into what seemed to be an Arena, it was quite bare except a raised pedestal on top of which a man stood a man who wielded two rather well made axes, one of which he was twirling around his finger, all of sudden a loud booming voice came from one the stand "Ladies and Gentlemen you are all here this fine afternoon to watch Draven, The Glorious Executioner claim another victim, I know most of you will know the rules of these executions if our poor victim here can get out the gates he will be allowed to go free, but from what we've seen of Draven I doubt anyone will ever get out those gates"

The announcer's speech went on for a few more seconds before the man standing on top of the pedestal started to spin his axes while looking detachedly towards me. 'Good, his ego seems to be so large that he underestimates his opponents'

I turned towards the gate and started to slowly walk towards it, after I had taken about ten steps I heard an axe being thrown towards, without turning around or slowing my pace I cast a fairly simple spell that caused a slab of stone to rise from the ground so instead of having an axe embedded in my back it embedded itself into a wall of thick stone, the following axes met the same fate and I easily managed to exit the arena.

As I walked out of the Arena I noticed the Guards tighten their grips around their weapons but otherwise made no move to intercept me 'It seems they had such faith in their executioner that they did not what to do if he ever failed' he couldn't help but smile at the misjudged faith they had placed into his would be killer and how it had earned him his freedom without so much as a brawl.

Just before I managed to leave the city a large squadron of soldiers arrived and set themselves up in an attempt to block my path, one soldier that wore a more decorated armour than the rest of them stepped forward "I have been ordered to place you under arrest, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way" he said reaching for the long sword that was strapped to his leg. I raised my hand towards the captain started to channel two spells, the first one turned the captain to stone and the second caused him to explode into thousands of tiny fragments, before either me or the remaining soldiers could make a move a felt a wave of energy and disorientation wash over me.

After a few seconds the disorientation had passed and I was no longer in the city of Noxus but in a large spacious room and I as I looked around I noticed it was filled with people of varying age, gender and body type all wearing the same purple robe.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to the Institute of War, King Orun" came a booming voice, turning towards the voice I saw a fairly short man with a slightly more decorated robe than the others, realising how he had addressed me I couldn't help but let out a loud booming laugh, when the man who had addressed me gave him a puzzled look.

In response to his look I said "It seems you have brought the wrong person into your realm, I am Gorun Dite-Tor, Captain of the Juggernaut military division of the Earthen Army"

"Well regardless of who you are, we are in need of help of a member of your people and since it would take us months to regain the power to be able attempt to summon another person from your realm and frankly we don't have that amount of time..."

"If your quest is just enough I will assist you in completing it" I said cutting him off before he could continue on.

"Well...We recently discovered two rather powerful entities in Runeterra, although we know very little about them we do know two things. They are not physical and seem to take a host and that they came from your realm and we attempted to summon your king because we expected that he would know what it was that we had found"

I pondered the information that he had given me "They're fragments of a Virtue, I'll explain that later, regardless of their intentions I will help find these two fragments and then deal with them in the best way possible" he was about to reply but I quickly cut him off "But first I will need my armour and weapons back" I felt a fairly small amount of power build up in the Summoner in front of me before I felt the comforting weight of my armour strapped to my body and my warhammer hanging off the straps of my armour

"Ok I'll have supplies and Horses readied, but in the meantime I must insist that I send a member of my order with you just as a safety measure, step forward girl" at his order a small figure stepped forward, when she stepped into the light I noticed that she was quite young she couldn't be older than eighteen, she was also very short and thin but I could detect a fairly large amount of magical energy potential inside of her.

"You might not be physically intimidating but you do have considerable magical energy, so you'll do" I said, her reply was to blush and make a face like she was deciding to whether or not to take it as a compliment or an insult. Shortly after this I, with my new companion, made our way to the canteen.

* * *

AN: ok we are sorry this took so long but after 3 chapter we have had no reviews, We would have posted this a lot quicker if we had gotten a single review, so can you please just leave a review it can be anything from a single word or a whole paragraph. From "Blargmaster13"


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